Inclined current fluid suspension ore separator



B. F. HEARN 2,497,84

INCLINED CURRENT FLUID'SUSPENSION ORE SEPARATOR Feb. 2l, 1950 2 Sheets-Shet l Filed May 17, 1946 che s 1 B. F. HEARN 2,497,834

INCLINED CURRENT FLUID SUSPNSION ORE SEPARATOR Feb., 2l, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 17, 1946 .mrm m,

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gmc/who@ BNJAMINE F. HE ARN Patented Feb. 21, 1950 `IINCLINEI) CURRENT FLUID SUSPENSION ORE SEPARATOR Benjamine F. Hearn, Jackson, Miss., assigner, by direct and mesne assignments, of twenty per cent to Rowe S, Crowder, Jackson, Miss., thirty- Vseven per cent to Harry J. Valentine, Sr., Phoenix, Ariz., and five per cent to Rufus Creekniore, Jackson, Miss.

Application May 17, 1946, Serial No. 670,443

2 Claims.

hThis invention relates to devices for the sep# aration of metals from sand, earth and other materials.

' An object of the invention is to provide means for separating metals from sand, earth or other materials eiiicentlyand at low cost.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the separation of metals from sand, earth or other materials is 'accomplished under the influence' ofa vacuum whereby the lighter sand, earth or other material is separated leaving the metal.

`A further object of the invention is to provide a metal separator wherein the sand, earth or other material containing the metal is dumped into a hopper and allowed to pass through a vacuum trap which separates the lighter material from the metal, which then iiows or drops into a recovery container or chamber.

Another object of m'y invention is to provide a receiving hopper for a vacuum metal separator which is adjustable to any desired precision to takecare of any -grade of material.

v'Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from the following de Is crip'tion of a preferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and ih yhilif A Figure 1 is a view in sectional elevation of the main portion of my metal separator in which the actualseparation of the metal takes place,

Figure 2 is side lvation of the complete rriahine' including the frame, metal separators, filters, fan and driving mechanism, and

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the device shown in Figui'e 7.

Like referenvcharaters denote similar parts throughout the several views.

The oro-'separating' device or this invention cludes a frame 5 having a base E with posts l at the corners and horizontal members 8 and 9 with diagonal braces l at the top.

' There are also intermediate transverse bars l2 that' the rack 26 remains substantiallyparallel to the? rails zu iwhiie n swings' therefrom, the rearward vone sa of the rackzs' being iowerthan its forward end 32 which protrudes forwardly out of the frame as shown in Figure 2. i

The screen 26 is' formed with a number of screen sections 2l and these are rocked by an` eccentric 34 which is rotatably supported in the' frame and connected to the screen frame 26 by connecting rods 3S. The agitator pulley Wheel 3s is driven by a motor lil) acting through two belts 42 and 44 and an intermediate pulley Wheel 4G also supported on the frame.

As the particles are screened through the inesh screen sections, they fall into the upwardly open mouths 48 of receiving hoppers 5l) of metal 'separators 52 which are arranged in pairs in rows extending longitudinally of the frame beneath the screens, so that the hoppers at the extremel left of Figure 2 receive the finest particles and those at the right of the View receive the coarsest particles, and those in between, receiving particles graduated according to their relative position along the frame.

Reference may now be made to Figure 1 for the details of construction of the metal separators. As `shown, each metal separator has a receiving hopper through the mouth 48 of which the particles' of material to be separated are r`eceive'd. The `sides of the receiving hopper cori-y verge downwardly to location 54 and then diverge to 'forro a Skirt 53 from iooation sa to loo-anon 56,-

welded to the inner surface of the upper hopper Sillas Shown in Figure l.

The upper end of the extension G4 is threaded into a hollow n'iit or dust cover member and support 12 which rests upon the portions of cross rods 68 Surrounding the aperture 56. It is' thus apparent that turning the dust cover 'l2 will cause lthe cylindrical extension 64 and hence the uppercorie 58 to be elevated or lowered depend ing upon the `directio'r'i of rotation of cover 12.

An inner inverted frustoconical chute inember T4 is supported on rods' "it secured at their" lower ends 'i8 to the inner surface of the chute membe'rl andA at' their upper ends Bil to an up# wardiyeiitending support rod e2 'which estenos'- upwardly through'the'tubular extension meini ber 64 and into the recess in the dust cover member '|2, with a nut 84 threaded onto its upper end, the nut resting on the upper end of the tubular extension 64, whereby the chute 14 may be raised or lowered by turning the nut 84, or the upper cone 58 and the chute 14 may be raised or lowered together by turning the dust cover member |2. Ii desired, the dust cover 12 may have a removable cap to aord access to the nut 84.

The chute member T4 has a frusto-conical skirt 86 which is substantially parallel to the conical surfaces 53 and B0, the surfaces 53, 60, and 8B being normally spaced slightly as shown. Adjustable stops comprising wing screws 88 and 90 are disposed in pairs around the skirt 53, extending threadedly therethrough as shown, with the lower ends of the screws 90 bearing against sur,

face 60 on theupper cone 58, and the lower ends of screws 88 bearing against skirt 86 on chute member 14. It is apparent that the screws 90 serve to adjust the spacing between members 53 and 60, and that the screws B8 serve to limit movement adjusting the spacing between members 86 and 60 and hence also between members 86, and 53.

If desired, the upper cone 50 and the chute member i4 may have added support by means of threaded rods extending through and secured to upper cone 58, the lower ends of the rods 9| extending through chute member 14 and having wing nuts 92 bearing against cross piece S4 to support the chute member 14. The upper ends of the rods 9| extend through brackets 96 carried by receiving hopper 50, with wing nuts 98 providing a means of adjustment of the elevation of the upper cone 58 and the discharge chute member 14, whereby the clearances between the surfaces 53, S0 and 86 may also be adjusted.

A lower frusto-conical discharge hopper |00 is supported in any suitable manner in the frame, and has its sides diverging upwards to location |02, there being an upstanding skirt |04 from location |02 upwards as shown, a slide plate |06 being secured to the skirt |04 by means of thumb screws |08 having jam nuts ||0 threaded thereon. The lower discharge outlet ||2 of the discharge hopper |00 has threads thereon for the reception of a receptacle I4 into which the separated metal particles such as gold, silver, and other metals may fall and be recovered by unscrewing the receptacle H4. The latter may conveniently be afruit jar of the type commonly in use.

A vacuum pipe I6 extends through an opening ||8 into the interior of discharge hopper |00 being supported therein by bracket I9, and having its end |20 tightly fastened over the discharge outlet |22 of the discharge chute member 14. The other end of the vacuum pipe I6 leads to a header |24 shown in Figure 3, which leads to a vacuum pump |26 driven by means of a power belt (not shown) engaging pulley |28. It is thus apparent that when suction is applied in vacuum pipe H6, a vacuum pocket is formed in the chamber |30 into which air is drawn along the paths indicated by the arrows |32 into the vacuum pocket |30, the air traveling at relatively high velocity through the restricted passageways shown. When matter containing metals to be separated is dropped from the screens on the screen rack into the receiving hoppers 50, it passes down along the outer surface of the upper cone 58 and enters the restricted passageways in the direction indicated by the arrows |34, passing between the members 53 and 60, and as it reaches the lower edge of the member 60 as shown in Figure l, it

is met by the rapidly moving air passing across its path and up between members and 86, with the result that the air |32 forces the lighter particles of material such as sand, dirt and the like upwards along the path of the arrows |32 be tween members 60 and 86, and into the vacuum pocket |30 whence it drops down into chute 14 and is sucked out through suction pipe IIS. At the same time, the weight of the metal particles such as gold, silver and the like is so much greater than that of the sand and dirt particles, that the air |32 which is sufficiently strong to lift the sand and other dirt particles into the vacuum pocket, has no lifting eiect on the metal particles and they drop down into discharge hopper |00 and into the fruit jar receptacles ||4.

In one preferred example of my device, the slope or pitch of the members 86, 60 and 53 is 45 degrees from the horizontal. The clearance between these members can be adjusted to accommodate any. size metal and sand particles from 1/100 to 1/8, and the degree of vacuum may be adjusted by means of a damper in the vacuum pipe or other suitable means. In each pair of separators, the spacing between the members 86, B0 and 53, will be adjusted to the size of particles being handled, as will the degree of vacuum.

Although I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention in specific terms, it is to be understood that various changes may be made in size, shape, materials and arrangement without departing from the spirit and scope of the in vention as claimed.

I claim:

1. In an ore separator, including a receiving the improvement comprising a support, means.

mounting said support in said receiving hopper above said cone, said support being formed with a vertically-disposed aperture therethrough axially of said receiving hopper, said apex of said cone having an upwardly-extending sleeve slidable in said aperture, the upper end of said sleeve being exteriorly threaded, a hollow nut threadedly engaging said sleeve and bearing on said support to comprise means for adjusting said cone vertically to vary the size of said rst passage, a rod slidable in said sleeve, means connecting said rod to said frusto-conical member, the upper end of said rod being .exteriorly threaded, a second nut threaded on said rod and bearing on the upper end of said sleeve inwardly of said hollow nut, and said rod and second nut comprising means for independently adjusting said frusto-conical member vertically to vary the sizeof F said second passage.

2. In an ore separator, including a receiving hopper `having downwardly-converging lsides terminating in an outwardly-ared frusto-conical skirt, a hollow cone including an apex disposed axially of said receiving hopper with base portions thereof underlying said skirt to provide a Afrusto-conical passage therebetween, a

frustoconical member underlying said base por-` tions ofsaid cone and providing a second frusto conical 'passage therebetween, and meansy for,

`5 creating upwardly-directed suction in said second passage; the improvement comprising a support, means mounting said support in said receiving hopper above said cone, said support being formed with a vertically-disposed aperture therethrough axially of said receiving hopper, said apex of said cone having an upwardly-extending sleeve slidable in said aperture, the upper end of said sleeve being exteriorly threaded, a hollow nut threadedly engaging said sleeve and bearing on said support to comprise means for adjusting said cone vertically to vary the size of said rst passage, a rod slidable in said sleeve, means connecting said ro-d to said frusto-conical member, the upper end of said rod being eXteriorly threaded, a second nut threaded on said rod and bearing on the upper end of said sleeve inwardly of said hollow nut, said rod and second nut comprising means for independently adjusting said frusto-conical member vertically to Vary the size of said second passage, separate adjustable stops carried by said skirt and engaging respectively said base portions of said cone and 6 said frusto-conical member, said stops being independently adjustable to independently limit adjusting movement of said cone and frustoconical member in directions to reduce the size of said rst and second passages.

BENJAMINE F. HEARN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 651,022 Sterling June 5, 1900 830,161, Osborne Feb. 24, 1908 940,469 Middleton Nov. 16, 1909 1,445,760 Drake Feb. 20, 1923 1,499,720 Fraser July 1, 1924 1,535,018 Ely Apr. 21, 1925 1,660,684 Stebbins Feb. 28, 1928 1,941,212 Johnson Dec. 26, 1933 2,211,575 Mjolsness Aug. 13, 1940 2,224,169 Turnbull Dec. 10, 1940 

